Police make major breakthrough after 85-year-old grandad 'kidnapped in error'

Police make major breakthrough after 85-year-old grandad 'kidnapped in error' Detectives found a body 11 days after the 85-year-old was snatched from his bed in a shock case of mistaken identity - but now, police have a fresh update on the case Police have made a breakthrough in horror case of mistaken identity, in which an 85-year-old grandfather was allegedly kidnapped and murdered by masked bandits. Sydney pensioner Chris Baghsarian made international headlines earlier this year when elderly man was kidnapped from his north Sydney home by masked assailants at about 5am on February 13. New South Wales Police later revealed the pensioner was likely taken by mistake, with detectives and family urging the widower's kidnappers to return him to them safe and sound. The 85-year-old's body was found 12 days later, nearly 30 miles from where he was last seen alive. But now, Australian detectives from the Robbery and Serious Crime Squad have revealed fresh charges have been laid in connection to Mr Baghsarian's alleged kidnapping and murder. According to NSW Police: "Following further inquiries, at about 10.40am yesterday (August 11), strike force detectives – with assistance from Northwest Metropolitan Operations Support Group – arrested a 51-year-old woman in Lethbridge Park [29 miles from Sydney's city centre]. "She was taken to Mt Druitt Police Station, where she was charged with accessory after the fact to murder." Police added that the 51-year-old woman has since been refused bail and is set to appear in Western Sydney at Mt Druitt Local Court on Wednesday (August 12). She now joins 11 others who have also been charged in the wake of Mr Baghsarian's death, following subsequent investigations into his alleged abduction and murder. These latest charges come five months on from that tragic day that Mr Baghsarian initially vanished, with his family, police, and even the state premier for New South Wales all issuing pleas to his alleged captors to beg for the pensioner's safe return. Grainy vision also aired on Australian news channel Nine, which showed two men — one wearing a high-visibility jacket — arriving at the elderly man's North Ryde home in a dark four-wheel-drive. They were seen on CCTV before dark, approaching the property. Mere moments later, Mr Baghsarian can be seen being pushed and shoved inside the vehicle - the last time he would be seen alive - with the car then speeding away into the darkness. Police later discovered an abandoned dark Toyota SUV that they believed was linked to the abduction. The car, found more than eight miles away, was completely burned out. New South Wales Police Detective Acting Superintendent Andrew Marks said at the time officers were “a million per cent confident” the kidnappers had taken the wrong man, stressing that Mr Baghsarian and his family had no links to organised crime. New South Wales premier Chris Minns described the family as “distraught” in the days following his adduction. He too had called on those responsible for the savage abduction to do the right thing. “This is a man over 80 years old,” Mr Minns said. “Please return him to his family." But, their pleas ultimately fell on deaf ears, with the sad tale coming to an end the village of Pitt Town, a regional community 40 miles north-east of Sydney. Later that month, NSW police detectives stormed the homes of Gerard Andrews, 29, and Daniel Stevens, 24, with the pair the first two to be charged with the murder and abduction of Mr Baghsarian. Andrews was caught so off guard he was barely dressed when police dragged him out onto the street, with his trousers falling down around his ankles as he was he was frogmarched to a police car by cops.